Page 52 of Ruthless Reign

“Cuntnugget,” I said, repeating the ‘password’ he gave me over the phone earlier.

“Proceed.”

The gates swung open and Becca stifled a chuckle in the back seat.

“In and out,” Hardin reminded me as we pulled up to the mansion and got out.

“Yep. In and out.”

“Can’t we stay for a bit?” Becca asked just as the doors swung open and Ava Jade flew down the wide steps like a bat out of hell.

Becca barely turned fully around to face her friend before Ava Jade jumped on her, wrapping her up in a hard embrace. “Fuck, Becks,” she said. “I’ve been worried about you!”

“I thought you weren’t going to be here,” Becca replied, deftly changing the subject. “Rook said you wouldn’t be back from the tour until Sunday.”

“Surprise,” Ava Jade said as she pulled away. “We canceled the last show. When I heard you were coming and shit was getting back down south we thought we should all be here just in case.”

“I told them we had it,” Grey said, appearing at the top of the steps. He had his glass eye on today instead of the patch and from a distance it looked so real I swore it was like he never lost it all. The guy Ava Jade and the others hired did an incredible job with it.

Corvus came outside, shouldering past Grey to come down the stairs and greet his cousins. “And I told you there was no way in hell we were sitting out if shit got real,” he shouted back at Grey.

“Not that we think anything is going to hit the fan,” Ava Jade said between her teeth, elbowing Corvus as he leaned down to give me a hug.

“Right. Yeah. Good to see you, Becca.”

“You too.”

He looked different somehow, and I couldn’t quite place what it was at first, but then it hit me. He looked alive. Corvus James always suited his Bone Man alter ego. The pale complexion. Hollowed cheeks and razor sharp cheekbones. He still had a lot of that bone structure but there was color in his skin now. The dark circles that had seemed permanently tattooed beneath his eyes were all but gone. His icy blue eyes clearer, devoid of creeping red veins and lingering redness.

“You look good,” I told him.

“So do you.”

Hardin cleared his throat and Corvus pursed his lips against a smirk as Hardin stared between Corvus and Becca with black fire in his eyes.

“Oh calm down, Goliath,” Ava Jade mocked Hardin before taking Becca by the hand to lead her up the stairs. “And don’t take this the wrong way, Becks, but actually, you look like shit. Have you been eating?”

“Aves.”

“Seriously, though. I think you lost weight and you were already such a skinny bitch. Come on, Corvus made zucchini bread, and I know that sounds absolutely disgusting but it’s actually crazy good. Maybe a drink, too? I bought some Crown for you.”

“Wow rye and zucchini. Sounds so good.”

“Shut up.”

“Hey, Becks,” Rook said, coming out with a glass of amber liquid hanging from his fingertips as he leaned in to embrace her…and then swatted Ava Jade’s ass as he passed by them to join us at the base of the stairs.

“So,” he said, sipping his drink. “Damien won’t tell Diesel shit. How bad is it actually?”

I looked to Hardin, finding the warning in his stare. If Dad didn’t want to share, it wasn’t our place to do it for him.

“We’re handling it,” Hardin told them.

I nodded my agreement. “We are. Séamas is a creative fucker, but we’re making moves. He won’t be a problem soon.”

None of them looked at all convinced.

“Shit’s tight here right now but Diesel can spare a few men,” Grey offered. “Or we could?—”

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